The Darker By Four Duology is an epic anime inspired fantasy. Drawing from Chinese diaspora folklore and underworld mythology, with a time crossing romance that will leave your heart aching.
It leaves me feeling so very saddened leaving this world and it’s characters after such a wild, high stakes ride of deception, betrayal, and hidden secrets.
I’ve had the best time following Rui, Yiran, and Zizi on this epic journey and am honoured that I was able to read the finale to this duology ahead of release.
Thank you so much HarperCollins and June CL Tan!
Below is the synopsis so as to give a better idea of what the story is about. Warning spoilers for book one in the synopsis.
The world has moved on. With the missing death god restored to the underworld, it appears that equilibrium has been regained. But the Nothing continues to threaten the underworld – and the mortal realm.
Trapped in Hell, Zizi fights the takeover of his soul by Four’s. As he begins to access Four’s memories, he discovers a tragic love story that could be the key to keeping the mortal realm safe. Now, Zizi must defy his fate and escape Hell once more.
On the surface, Rui’s life has changed as she is hailed a hero by the Exorcist Guild. But she soon discovers the spell Zizi was forced to create is transforming innocent humans into vicious Hybrid Revenants. With the help of the other cadets, she vows to stop them.
Now magicless, Yiran watches, hungrier than ever, until he begins a dangerous dalliance with Yuki, hoping the Hybrid will recover Yiran’s magic. And when he discovers a dark family secret, he must decide what he stands for – before it’s too late.
Now for my thoughts.
4.65 🌟 from me
Characters:
I cannot say just how much love I have for this cast of characters!
The quirky chaos is endearing and getting to see the honesty, impulsivity and wholehearted-ness in which they forge towards their goals while sometimes making a mess along the way is refreshing in characters living in a fantasy setting so rooted in the supernatural. In particular, I find the relationship between Ash and Yiran does an excellent job of showing this. While a can’t say much for fear of spoiling the plot, I can say that there are some good developments.
Plot/Writing:
The writing is fast paced and acton packed while at the same time being effortless to understand. This makes for a smooth reading experience while also paying homage to the shonen anime loving audience with those high intensity fight sequences.
The world feels cozy (ironic considering the subject matter I know) and comforting. It is rich with epic cityscapes, corrupt governments, and entangled fates. Clearly, so much time and love was poured into this story and its characters.
At the end of the last book there was a lot of dust kicked up and we were left on a huge cliffhanger. I was pleased to see that there were direct follow ups with more explanation as to how the 10 courts of hell function and what led Four to make the decisions he made in the first place; granting us far more access to the character development that was lacking in book one
Enjoyment:
Overall I felt that this series would have benefited from a third instalment. I genuinely think that this is an amazing story and concept and at the same time, there were things that I felt needed more time to come to full fruition. Even if the book felt under developed at times, in terms of ending, it seemed to mostly come together leaving things feeling hopeful and sad but not quite like a goodbye.
Romance:
I found the romance to be heartbreaking. The concepts the author has woven together make for a staggering amount of emotional whiplash individually; once combined though, they create an entirely different hell-scape. It could be my own bias, but I find the premise of two souls destined to meet, fall in love, but never truly able to be together one of the most compelling ways a romance can be done. Pairing this with the pre-established deep connection that was hinted at during the end of the first book made for a truly beautiful ending that had me in tears.
Sign off.
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read!
If you’re interested in preordering the book reviewed above and helping out the author before release, early enthusiasm and numbers help so much.
Then I will list links to where you can get it in both the US and UK
